Ski the Beav or Rent Out the Whole Stinkin' Lodge!

What better place to have a family reunion than at Beaver Mountain Lodge up Logan Canyon.
This was our first Fyffe family reunion with just the siblings and our families + Mom, of course!
That's 10 Fyffe kids (all married), 24 grandkids (+ 1 hubby)  and 1 great grandbaby = 47!
There were a few absent for reasons beyond their control. Grand total = 41!
Would have been even funner had those six family members been able to come.
Next time!
Beaver Mountain Lodge is a ski resort come winter.
Come summer, it's a RENTAL!!! And quite affordable when splitting it 10 ways.
Three days, two nights (which we later decided wasn't long enough) was $41.60/day.
That included the WHOLE stinkin' lodge! Definitely a steal!
Okay, so we all had to bring our own blow up mattresses and food. But STILL.

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Sad panoramic I took from up above. My camera wasn't being hayv (as Sarah used to say):


And here are some shots from what the lodge looks like in full swing (from their website):






Yo Pokey, Vacay Begins

Back in August we were able to take a trip to Utah for a family reunion.
First stop. Pocatello, Idaho.
A nice stop along the way only leaving a two hour drive for the next day.
Kids were happy there was a big pool with a deep end.
I was happy there was a gym with a treadmill.
Steve was happy there was internet access.
We ate dinner at Five Guys Burger and Fries.
The kids swam.
We slept.
The kids swam again.
I ran.
We packed up and left.



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A few pics directly from the Holiday Inn, Pocatello site:









Oh, and the best part was that I scored the room off Priceline for a sweet deal of $50!

B.A.D. is Good



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The kids thought Jazz Band was over back in June.
Little did they know that they would be performing again at B.A.D.
(Brownsville Appreciation Days).
No rehearsal.
We packed up their music stands, music and plexi glass (so the music wouldn't blow away) and headed off to Brownsville Marina.
There was lots of entertainment, inexpensive food, free rubber dingy rides, free kayak demonstrations, kids activites and craft booths.
It was our first year going and we live right around the corner.
Next year we'll definitely go again.
Weather for the day = HOT!

Iron Girl Seattle

At the beginning of summer a good friend of mine twisted my arm off and said she wouldn't give it back unless I agreed to run the Iron Girl Seattle 5k race with her. Realizing how useless I would be without my arm, I agreed.

So we both started our training using an amazing app called C25K (couch to 5k). I would HIGHLY recommend it. Yes, I have been a couch potato as far as exercising goes, for who knows how long. With that, the only running I can vouch for is the 7th grade track team, running the 100 meter. I was a sprinter, not a long distance runner AT ALL! Whenever we HAD to run the mile for fitness in junior high, I would always have to stop and walk for parts of it because of side aches. I hated it! In fact, I think I faked being sick more than once on the days I knew we had to run the mile.

Well, the summer training payed off and I was able to run my very first 5k race in record time! For some of you, this record time of mine may be slow, but for me it was cause for celebration. Here are the stats:

Out of 1,367 finishers for the 5k race, I was the 341st finisher.
In my age bracket I came in 67th out of 238 finishers.
My finishing time was 32:19.

It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. Thanks LaRee, for lighting that fire under me.
Now into my second week of training for a 10k.
Wish me luck!


Click on picture to view larger:
The day before the race, LaRee and I checked into a hotel a couple of blocks away from the Space Needle and only about a 10 minute drive to the race at Greenlake Park. We were able to pick up our packets that day as well and even enjoyed a nice dinner at a Thai restaurant.

The morning of the race our boys drove Lindsay over (she couldn't come with us, the day before, because she had other plans) and helped with being camera men, videotographers, lockers and valet parkers. Thanks guys!!! We couldn't have done it without you.

Story Generated

                                                                                                  ***this pic was not the actual pic from that day.


Last week as Scott and I took his last ferry ride over to Seattle before hopping on his plane to go back home, we spotted something curious. We saw a ferry that was stopped dead out in the middle of the Puget Sound. It looked like the Coast Guard was attached to it. I then proceeded to text my hubby about the curiousness of it all. Later on he texted me back saying thank you and that I just generated a story for the Kitsap Sun. That was a first for me! To read the story at the Kitsap Sun website CLICK HERE. You may notice they don't list my name as a credit to the story. I guess I'll live. Big sigh!

Dry Spell

So there's been a little bit of a dry spell here at Gardner Villa.
That's what happens when you go on vacation and bring back
one of your favorite nephews for a few weeks of phun!

So, since Scott is still here and I'm ready to hit the sack, I'll
share with you a few morsels until I have more time to
post away all the amazingly fun memories from our summer.














Tin Grin

Nothing like an
ooey, gooey, stuff your face
with sweet stickiness party.

That's what Sarah chose to do
the night before she got her braces on.

So she called up her best friend from Poulsbo.
I made caramel popcorn.


Sprite was the fizzy drink of choice.


And you gotta have Sour Patch Kids.


Show me how pleased you were Sarah!


The morning fog greeted us
on our way to the orthodontist.


Killing time before Sarah's turn.


Couldn't be happier than doing puzzles.
Okay, maybe playing with his Thomas trains.


Before




Still beautiful even with braces!

Happy August!